Lions' experience will help on tour - Youngs

Experience gained by the British & Irish Lions on their 2013 tour of Australia will be vital to the 2017 campaign in New Zealand.

That's the view of halfback Ben Youngs who is one of 16 players in the touring party who was in Australia four years ago.

He told The Rugby Paper: "Anyone who's been on a Lions tour already knows what to expect in terms of the schedule and the format.

"The games come thick and fast, a lot of challenges are thrown your way, so you need experience of how to deal with it," he said.

There would be 16 players who understood the need to bond as quickly as possible because once arriving in New Zealand it would be non-stop action for six hard weeks.

"The transition always takes a bit of time but having a core of experienced boys will make that process smoother and there's no reason why we can't do well," he said.

New Zealand was a hard place to tour, but it was 'extremely exciting' because of that.

"You know it's going to be a challenge but all the guys from the four nations have toured New Zealand before and it's one we can really look forward to, embrace and meet head on with, hopefully, another terrific outcome," he said.

Youngs will be competing with Ireland's Conor Murray and Wales' Rhys Webb for positions on the tour but was looking forward to that.

"You do the first bit by getting onto the tour; but after that you want to play in the Tests and it's important that I'm playing at my best going into the tour because they'll feel exactly the same," he said.

There is plenty of opportunity to achieve that as his club Leicester still has a chance to win the Premiership, something he believes the side can do, even after the coaching turmoil which saw former All Black Aaron Mauger replaced in the coaching department at the club.